The Historic Design and Review Commission has not backed any of the proposals that would put a 26-story tower atop Joske's.

The Historic Design and Review Commission has not backed any of the proposals that would put a 26-story tower atop Joske's.

Photo: Billy Calzada / San Antonio Express-News

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Photo: Mike Fisher

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Photo: Mike Fisher

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A proposed 24-story hotel/time-share tower, seen here in an artist's illustration, is being planned for the top of the Joske's building, which is attached to Rivercenter mall. One of our readers says she does not care what the building looks like as long as the owners revive the Christmas display windows that delighted generations of children.

A proposed 24-story hotel/time-share tower, seen here in an artist's illustration, is being planned for the top of the Joske's building, which is attached to Rivercenter mall. One of our readers says she does

Photographs of Joske's famed holiday displays are on exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures. Courtesy San Antonio Light Collection, UTSA Libraries Special Collections

Photographs of Joske's famed holiday displays are on exhibit at the Institute of Texan Cultures. Courtesy San Antonio Light Collection, UTSA Libraries Special Collections

Photo: UTSA Special Collections

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Readers share their disapproval of the proposed hotel tower in the Joske's building downtown, shown here in an artist's rendering.

Readers share their disapproval of the proposed hotel tower in the Joske's building downtown, shown here in an artist's rendering.

Photo: SA Parternship Architects

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A proposed 24-story hotel/timeshare tower, seen in an artist rendering provided Friday March 29, 2013 by SAPartnership Architects, is being planned for the top of the JoskeÕs building, which is attached to the Rivercenter Mall.

A proposed 24-story hotel/timeshare tower, seen in an artist rendering provided Friday March 29, 2013 by SAPartnership Architects, is being planned for the top of the JoskeÕs building, which is attached to the

A proposed 24-story hotel/timeshare tower, seen in an artist rendering provided Friday March 29, 2013 by SAPartnership Architects, is being planned for the top of the JoskeÕs building, which is attached to the Rivercenter Mall.

A proposed 24-story hotel/timeshare tower, seen in an artist rendering provided Friday March 29, 2013 by SAPartnership Architects, is being planned for the top of the JoskeÕs building, which is attached to the

The San Antonio Conservation Society published a full-page newspaper advertisement Sunday that urges the city “not to put special interests ahead of protecting our local landmarks” by allowing a hotel tower to be built near the Alamo.

The ad, on page A31 of Sunday's San Antonio Express-News, refers to a “high-rise hotel atop the historic Joske's building” but doesn't mention parties in the project's development group or City Manager Sheryl Sculley, who conditionally overturned a 6-2 vote on May 1 by the Historic and Design Review Commission to deny conceptual approval of the project.

The ad accuses the city of “putting private interests ahead of creating a better downtown for both residents and tourists” by letting Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., owner of the Joske's building and Rivercenter mall, work with BC Realty Partners of Dallas to develop a 500-room hotel and time share project in the nationally recognized Alamo Plaza Historic District.

On May 10, Sculley approved the conceptual design on the condition the development group return to the HDRC within 60 days with a design that reduces the scale of the addition, or a “credible market demand study” to support the scale if it is not consistent with nearby historic structures. The conditions also include a parking plan, consultation with the National Park Service on impacts the project would have on the San Antonio missions' World Heritage Site nomination and a “contemporary interpretation of design” ensuring the project will contribute “to the diversity of the hotel marketplace experience.”

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Mayor Julián Castro and City Councilman Diego Bernal have supported Sculley's action, and HDRC Chairman Tim Cone has called it “a very thoughtful decision.” Some have said that the new information will ensure that the final design will balance downtown development with the aesthetics of one of the city's most historic sites.

But the ad said the city is “disregarding its own guidelines” for historic districts. The 380-foot-tall towerwould “irrevocably destroy the visual experience” of Alamo Plaza, destroy all but the 1930s façade of the 1880s Joske's building and increase the difficulty of finding a suitable future use for the building, the ad stated.

Conservation Society President Nancy Avellar called the project a risky venture for Ashkenazy, which she said has executed a “failed business plan” at the mall. She fears the development group will not make substantive design changes.

“We have asked them for a smaller hotel. They claim they need an enormous hotel to finance the expansion,” Avellar said Sunday.

A call to Sculley Sunday was not returned. Trish DeBerry, spokeswoman for BC Realty, said the development group is working on an updated design for the Joske's building that “honors the integrity” of the surrounding historic district and will be a “transformational project for downtown.”